The Auction Block: Impressionist and Modern Art Special

Sotheby’s
“Nu Couché,” 1917
Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920)
Estimate: $150 million
Auction Date: May 14
Leading the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale at Sotheby’s is Modigliani’s “Nu couché,” a masterpiece from his 1917 production and the largest canvas the artist ever painted. This is the highest estimate ever for a work of art at auction, though not the highest figure a work of art has sold for at auction (Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” fetched $450 million at Christie’s last year).

Doyle New York“Night Suspect (A British Coast Guard Cutter in Pursuit)”Montague Dawson (1890–1973)Estimate: $50,000 – $80,000Auction Date: May 9The painting depicts the dramatic chase on a moonlit night by the British Coast Guard, firing a canon at suspected smugglers in the English Channel. The son of a sea captain, Montague Dawson served in the Royal Navy in World War I. In World War II, he was an official war artist, painting encounters by the Royal Navy.

Freeman’s“Bowl of Flowers with Fuchsia,” c. 1930Emil Nolde (1867–1956)Estimate: $50,000 – $80,000Auction Date: May 8Expressionist painter Emil Nolde first began to explore watercolor in the 1890s. His experimentation with the medium played a significant role in the development of his artistic identity. He preferred using absorbent Japan paper, which he moistened slightly before saturating it with paint-soaked brushes. As a result, the colors would blossom on the paper, overlapping with each other and revealing luminous depth, subtle transitions and nuanced tones.

Christie’s“Le Marin,” 1943Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)Estimate: $70 millionAuction Date: May 15“Le Marin” dates from some of the darkest days of Picasso’s life. Denounced by Hitler and known the world over for “Guernica,” his powerful anti-fascist statement, Picasso had received offers to flee France. By the summer of 1940, however, as German forces occupied the capital, he moved permanently into his cavernous Left Bank studio, where — suffering food shortages, curfews and blackouts, and living under the constant threat of Nazi suspicion — he continued to work as the war raged on.

Bonhams“Acrobati e cavallo”Marino Marini (1901–1980)Estimate: $100,000 – $150,000Auction Date: May 15Imbued with both playfulness and pathos, “Acrobati e cavallo” is a magnificent amalgamation of two of Marini’s favorite themes: theatricality and the horse and rider. The joy Marini found in the medium of painting is evident in the thickly applied impasto of the present work. The proud posturing of his figures gives forth a sense of grandeur and nostalgia for the classical world.